Ukip deputy leader Paul Nuttall has said the 'brainwashing' of British pupils must stop

EU ‘propaganda’ is being handed out to teachers to indoctrinate pupils at a young age, it has emerged.

A Brussels official responsible for providing classroom material to UK schools admitted a desire to teach youngsters about the ‘values of EU membership’ from a young age, before they are ‘misinformed’.

The revelation that aggressively pro-European leaflets were being handed out at an education fair to ‘brainwash’ pupils has been heavily criticised.

UKIP deputy leader and education spokesman Paul Nuttall MEP told the Express: ‘It is what we always suspected but could never prove. Now we can. They [the EU] are effectively using our cash to brainwash our children. And it has to stop.’

A video has emerged of Judith Schilling, the European Commission’s publication manager, handing out EU-focused leaflets at the Education Show in Birmingham.

She tells an interviewer: 'Everybody has now picked up on the idea that we will never
succeed to convince people about the value of being a member of the
European Union if we do not start early enough with the young people
before they form prejudices and are misinformed by other sources.'

Mr
Nuttall said he has written to Education Secretary Michael Gove and
Schools Minister Nick Gibb saying the teaching programme appears to
breach the law banning promotion of ‘partisan political views’ in
schools.

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Mr
Nuttall has also called for the European Commission to be made to halt
its schools programme pending an inquiry and to order schools to stop
using such aids.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: 'It is
vital that such an important issue, which is essentially the deliberate
political indoctrination of our children, be dealt with in as open and
as transparent a way as possible.'

It
comes after the EU was accused of trying to 'brainwash' children after
pupils all over the country were given pencil cases with its logo
emblazoned across it.

The EU Commission (pictured) has produced a lesson plan using aggressively pro-European leaflets

The brightly-coloured pencil cases featuring the EU's 12-star logo were handed out to schoolchildren following an event encouraging teachers to forge links with the Commission.

The one-day conference was staged by Staffordshire County Council and was attended by 50 teachers to raise awareness of the EU in schools, it was reported.

On the Commission London HQ website,
visitors can click 'to enjoy our little movie' about its free
educational publications.

The video shows Ms Schilling speaking about
the various teaching tools being provided by the Commission.

Propaganda? A European Commission official said it needs to 'start early' to convince children of the merits of the EU

The free material includes the ‘Passport to the EU’, containing ‘fun’ information about the 27 member states. 'I've been told by many teachers that they love it and the children love it,’ says Ms Schilling.

There is also a ‘mini language guide’ with samples of the EU’s 23 official languages, which she said was useful for primary schools.

For 'slightly older' readers is 'The EU: What’s in it for me?' explaining 'how we benefit from membership of the EU in our daily life, everything between lower roaming charges and cleaner bathing water'.

Both booklets are still available in British schools, the Express found.Mark English, a spokesman for the EU Commission in the UK, told the Express: 'The Commission distributes information to teachers and schools only when invited. Some material refers to benefits that the EU brings and gives evidence for this. Others have different views and schools are free to invite them, too.

'The Commission does not seek to mislead and invites those who systematically promote an anti-EU agenda through the media also to make their arguments based on the facts.'

Tory MEP Emma McClarkin said: 'This looks like a licence to force-feed pupils a very one-sided, starry-eyed version of what the EU is and does for its people. We fear it will be a carte blanche to push the federalist agenda that is so close to the hearts of the Eurocrats.'